


And They Called it Puppy Love

by lapisdot



Series: Lapidot Oneshots [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Growing Up, I mean dont we all tho, Lapis def has a soft spot for Peri, Protective Lapis, angry lap, but be careful!, friends 2 lovers, implied pearlmethyst?, lapidot - Freeform, lots of fluuuufff, my cuties, sorry if the timings weird?, teen for swearing and mild violence - not descriptive, weak peri:(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 17:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16644620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lapisdot/pseuds/lapisdot
Summary: Lapis is someone who has a general hatred for all humans. Except for Peridot. Yeah, Peridot’s alright, she thinks.





	And They Called it Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> did I write this instead of finishing the next chapter for wish you were here? lol yea  
> im sick at the moment so ivee just kinda been going with the floooowww and not forcing myself to do anything  
> this wasn’t meant to be a Thing but it is anyway so  
> i wrote this half in bed video calling with my friends and half singing loudly to Queen ps i saw bohemian rhapsody and oh boy im a MESS  
> also i rewrote a ton of this because I somehow slammed my keyboard and it closed all my tabs #fun now i write with google docs because AUTOSAVE THANKS  
> enjoy lovelies let me know if u have any constructive criticism & wywh new chapter soon promise

Everyone said that from a young age, it was clear what you were destined to be purely from the way you acted and felt. From the moment Lapis Lazuli Kahue opened her wide, deep brown, beautiful eyes, just from the sparkle her parents knew she was going to be a firecracker - a wild spirit who couldn’t be contained, and most importantly, someone who at the ripe age of 4 and a half managed to push their 64-year-old grandmother down a flight of stairs and feel little to no remorse until her baby doll was threatened to be taken away if she didn’t show at least some sign of regret.

Nobody was sure what caused Lapis’ bad temper - it was far too unpredictable to diagnose with everything, she was just a very angry girl. Lapis’ dad said ‘it’s probably because we gave her such a goddamn cheesy name,’ and all Lapis’ mom could do was agree. Because of Lapis’ frequent anger outbursts, it meant finding a permanent place for her to learn was extremely difficult. And she was only 6. In the previous 18 months, she’d been removed from 5 different preschools and kindergartens due to ‘behavioural problems’, which pretty much translated to ‘we are scared shitless of your angry daughter, who is 3 feet of pure, unrestricted rage’ Lapis’ mom had applied to countless different places within 25 minutes of their house, and had even considered moving, until one finally responded.

Any shred of hope left in Miss Kahue was entirely destroyed when the first day of Lapis’ new school was coming to a close. A young, blonde woman with a kind face and badge around her neck on a lanyard (indicating she must be Lapis’ new teacher) approached her as she was waiting to pick up her daughter and take her home.

“Hi, you must be Miss Kahue! I’m Miss Anderson, I was wondering if we could chat for a moment?” she smiled politely, and Lapis’ mom was having a bet with herself about how long it would take for Lapis to destroy all of that optimism and positivity about teaching. At this point, she only expected the worst when it came to ‘quick chats’ with her daughter’s teachers. She certainly wasn’t expecting anything positive.

“Let me guess - Lapis has either bitten, scratched, punched, kicked or spat at another child? Just tell me who, I’ll make sure I apologise profusely,” she sighed, her brow furrowed in absolute frustration. Her own daughter would really be the death of her someday.

“Actually, no! It’s quite good news,” she grinned, very much to the other woman’s surprise. “It seems that Lapis has taken quite a liking to another child, and likewise I know you mentioned in your application forms that Lapis has been, um, struggling with connecting with other children in a friendly way - so I thought you’d be glad to hear it.” Lapis’ mom thought there must’ve been some sort of confusion. Lapis had made a friend?

Of course, the teacher was being truthful, Lapis sat at a pink kiddy table with a scared-looking blonde girl with thick black glasses. It was a normal sight to see children scared of Lapis, but most ran away. This girl didn’t.

“I’ve been watching them for quite some time. It’s rather sweet, actually.” Miss Anderson smiled, proud of herself as if she’d somehow managed to turn Lapis into a saint by making her make friends. And Lapis’ mom thought she had done, until a pained cry came from the same kiddy table that Lapis and her supposed ‘new friend’ were seated at.

“Oww!” the small blonde cried, tears falling down her cheeks as she rubbed at a spot on her forehead.

“Lapis! What have you done?” Lapis’ mom shouted, seeing Lapis sat angrily with her arms folded.

“She-she threw a teapot! At my head!” the blonde shouted, now crying excessively.

“Peridot, you’ll be okay, just one second- Lapis, why did you do that?” Miss Anderson said calmly, though Lapis’ mom guessed that she was probably losing her patience with the small girl, who practically had steam coming from her ears.

“She said her cookies were better than mine! Mine are the best!” Lapis shouted, mentioning the ‘pretend’ cookies they were eating with their tea.

“Because mine are best! Why did you throw that at me? You-you- clod!” Peridot cried, reaching for the same teapot that impacted her head and throwing it at Lapis’ in return.

* * *

 

5th Grade

Lapis cheerfully skipped into the playground, her plait bouncing with every odd step that she took. She was looking around for Peridot - usually they met every morning, without fail, unless one of them was sick - in which case they’d try their best to tell the other immediately. Lapis’ worry was somehow alleviated and also heightened when a small blonde came running over to her clumsily.

On one hand, she was glad she was here and not bedridden at home, but on the other hand Peridot avoided physical activity at any given moment and absolutely despised running.

“Lapis!” Peridot cried, holding her glasses in her hand. Lapis was immediately concerned. Peridot couldn’t go more than 5 minutes at most without her glasses - she needed them to see almost everything, she only took them off for sleeping. And she certainly wouldn’t take them off for any sort of exercise, or just walking around. Then, she saw. The lenses were completely smashed, glass even missing in certain places, and the frame was completely bent out of shape. That wasn’t an accident. Someone had done that to her Peridot, and on purpose. They would pay. And not for the glasses.

“Peridot - what happened?” Lapis said, anger biting at her voice. She’d been getting much better at dealing with it, and had even been taking antidepressants to alleviate the feelings somewhat. She’d been doing well - but seeing your best friend so upset would be enough to make anyone absolutely furious. The fact it was Lapis? That just made it even worse.

“I-I don’t know! I saw Johnny and Liam near my bag and I left my glasses there when I went to splash my face- it’s all my fault. My mom’s going to kill me!” Peridot cried, large tears spilling from her green eyes without restriction.

Lapis grabbed Peridot’s hand softly, and dragged her over to where the group of boys stood. Immediately, people were staring and whispering.

“Hey, idiots! Which one of you broke Peridot’s glasses?” Lapis practically screamed, gesturing to the broken frame and lenses.

“We-we didn’t mean to!” Liam whimpered. Lapis was known for her outbursts and used them to her advantage.

“Glasses are expensive! If you don’t like Peridot, don’t talk to her, understood? But you don’t need to break her things, you pile of craps!” Lapis said aggressively, Peridot still whimpering and holding her hand.

“Woah. Just cause you’re lesbos doesn’t mean you need to scream at us. Peridot should learn to take care of herself, the freak.” A girl, called Hannah, she thought, spoke. It caused some uproar of laughter, but most was hesitant.

“Peridot? Here you go.” Lapis said calmly, handing Peridot back her destroyed and unusable glasses. The crowd began muttering in confusion (along with Peridot) - some wondering why Lapis had chosen to just pretty much walk away, before Lapis turned back around.

“Maybe you should learn how to be a decent human being.” Lapis smiled falsely. And then she punched her in the face.

* * *

 

Two days later

“Thanks again for sticking up for me. It was really cool. Without you, I’d be useless,” Peridot blushed profusely, her newly fixed glasses sitting on her pointed nose as she glanced at her literal saviour.

“No way. I’m sure you’d come up with some awesome comebacks, and then you’d say them and pow! They’d be knocked out. Me, I’m just a fighter. There’s nothing cool about that,” Lapis laughed sadly, feeling sorry for the fact Peridot had to thank Lapis.

Lapis thought friends should stick up for each other regardless, if they hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Well, to me you’re super cool. And that will never change. How long did they suspend you for again?” Peridot asked, reaching out for Lapis’ slim, tanned hand and resting hers over the top.

“Just four days. You’ll have to take care of yourself, yeah? But I’m sure nobody will go near you. And if they do, well, let’s just say I’ll probably be getting more than four days,” Lapis laughed, making Peridot chuckle too. They’d always be there for each other - maybe in different ways, but that wasn’t what mattered. 

* * *

 

11th Grade

“Oh my god, she actually threw a teapot at your head!?” Amethyst cackled wildly, practically falling over from laughter. “And she stood up for you like that?” another person asked in shock.

“It’s not that funny,” Peridot grumbled, rubbing her head as if Lapis had only just thrown the teapot now, or as if it still hurt all these years later. “And I threw it back too!”

“It totally is. I was a wild child. And yup, my main job was saving Peridot’s butt. Actually, that’s still my main job now,” Lapis laughed while lighting her cigarette, causing Peridot’s nose to scrunch up, as if it produced a terrible smell.

“You still are. You know, those are going to kill you one day.” Peridot whispered, sighing. She’d been trying to make Lapis quit for almost a year now and nothing had worked.

“Oh well, we’re all gonna die anyway. Might as well get it over and done with and be high for a while,” Lapis said, taking a drag. Lapis was well and truly a complete edgelord.

“What?! Lapis, you’re smoking drugs?” Peridot squealed loudly. She didn’t care if people thought she was some sort of kid or priss, Lapis never said she did drugs! Despite their differences and conflicts, Peridot cared a lot about Lapis, and likewise. Their teapot-throwing antics only brought them closer.

“Nah, not right now at least. Just messing with ya. It never gets old.” Lapis laughed, throwing her arm around Peridot’s shoulder - shortly before Peridot shrugged it off quickly.

“Hey, you know - I think you guys actually beat Ruby and Sapphire for the amount of time you’ve been together,” a girl, maybe called Jenny(?) said who wore excessively large hoop-earrings and a top so low-cut Peridot wouldn’t even have to bed her to see everything and more.

“Nah, no way. Rube and Sapph met when they were babies.” Lapis said, exhaling a puff of smoke. “No beating them.”

“Yeah, but they got together in 3rd grade, or somethin,” she said, taking a swig of her beer.

“Oh, we’re not together!” Peridot blurted out, which caused some very awkward and definitely fake laughter between the two girls.

“Well, you’re sort of just prolonging the inevitable, aren’t you?” Pearl snickered, and Peridot realised it was probably the first time she’d spoken to anyone except Amethyst the whole night.

“What do you mean?” Lapis said, putting out her cigarette on the wall she hovered on, almost a defense mechanism at this point.

“Well, you two clearly like each other. Peridot definitely likes you, and so you’re going to end up together regardless, aren’t you? In fact, didn’t you break up with your ex for her?” Pearl said matter-of-factly. She was definitely tipsy, and after her 2nd beer. Lightweight.

“What?!” Peridot squealed, her face turning bright red. “I never even-!”

“You wanna say that again, you bitch? Look, we’re not in class, so why don’t you pipe the fuck down?” Lapis stood up, her legs wobbling due to the sheer amount she’d been drinking. It was much easier to sit than stand while intoxicated, Lapis realised.

“Lapis, don’t-” Peridot cried, reaching to grab her arm which was covered by a swim team jacket. “Lo-look, you don’t get to be going round saying sh-hit like that,” Lapis slurred, and Peridot knew.

“Your f-failed relationships don’t mean it’s ok for you, to-to tell me who I like and don’t!” Lapis stuttered, edging closer to Pearl, her fist balled. Peridot knew.

“Lapis! Go home!” Amethyst shouted, standing up. “You two are just ruining things,” Lapis fist swung, so close to hitting Pearl. It was close. Like running the last few centimeters at a marathon. Or finishing the last sentence of your 10,000 word essay. It was so close, enough to hurt you, but enough to feel that satisfactory feeling.

And then she threw up on Pearl.

* * *

 

When Lapis awoke, everything ached. It was that type of pain that was too spread to locate it in one place, and enough to make you wince, so she honestly had no idea what was hurting or how to fix it, or anything. All she knew is that she hurt, and she wanted sleep.

When opening her eyes, she noticed that the light streaming in from the window was practically blinding. But she wasn’t in her room, or her house. She really hoped she’d managed to get some the past night, and that she hadn’t been drugged and kidnapped, or something.

She honestly had no recollection of the previous night - she remembered Peridot, and cigarettes, and dancing, and lots of beers, and that bitch Pearl.

And Peridot. Peridot. She was in Peridot’s house. She was relieved mostly, that she hadn’t been kidnapped, but she was rather disappointed she hadn’t slept with someone the past night. Though she was notorious for her endless list of one-night-stands, Lapis hadn’t been with anyone in a while. Not ever since she started hanging out with Peridot most nights, she realised.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a familiar voice spoke, and it sounded relieved, and hopeful, and all of those wonderful things that Lapis definitely wanted to hear every morning - or every afternoon, whatever time it was. But, no matter what time it was, it felt like heaven to hear such a sweet voice when waking up. Yeah, she settled for that, instead.

“Whoop.” Lapis spoke, weakly doing jazz hands. And then she realised, it was her head. Her head was absolutely, positively, surely pounding, there was literally no doubt about it.

“How are you feeling? Better, I hope,” Peridot sighed, leaning over to touch Lapis’ head softly, which made her wince, but she found that she didn’t mind her hand there. She didn’t mind it at all, really.

“About as good as I can, considering I really don’t remember getting here. Oh god, I didn’t make you do anything, did I?” Lapis feared. Although she’d certainly fantasised about it often, Peridot was absolutely, positively, surely a virgin and Lapis didn’t want to tamper with that. Well, she sort of did, but not when one of them was shitfaced and the other slightly tipsy.

“No, don’t worry. And even if you did, I would’ve said no if I didn’t want you to,” Peridot whispered, and Lapis wasn’t entirely sure if she was implying she did want it or not.

“Good. So, um, mind explaining why I’m in your bed?” Lapis spoke, and Peridot laughed. What a wondrous sound, she thought. No, it didn’t sound like bells, or like angels singing, or like happiness or a sunny day. Actually, it sounded rough, harsh, not really a girly laugh at all. But it was Peridot’s laugh, and in a way, that did make it all of those things, but just not quite as cliche-ly put.

“Well, uh. What do you remember?” Peridot spoke, sitting down on the mattress next to where Lapis’ long legs were tangled in the soft blankets, causing the mattress to dip slightly, but not noticeably so, unless you were looking directly at Peridot (aka: if you were Lapis, and literally always looking at her).

“I remember cigarettes. Lots of drinks. Um. Oh. I remember that bitch Pearl.” Lapis said, and she hoped that Peridot would get the general gist from that, as it was rather vague.

“Oh, yep. Well. You got pretty shitfaced, and then Jenny said something about us being together, and Pearl made a clever comment.” Peridot explained, pushing up her glasses with her small fingers reflexively, and now Peridot was being rather vague.

“She did? Oh god, please tell me I knocked the shit out of her.” Lapis laughed, forgetting what the comment was, but it was probably something Pearl said smugly, matter-of-factly, because she knew it all. Oh, what Lapis would do to turn the tables.

“Well, you sort of did… something,” Peridot spluttered, laughing, coughing. The whole lot.

“Oh, god, what did I do? C’mon, Peri, the suspense is killing me. I’m fading away. Heeeelpppp…” Lapis said, her voice getting weaker by every word.

“You know, for a complete edgelord, you’re such a huge dork,” Peridot laughed, her face crinkled, again, it wasn’t necessarily beautiful, it wasn’t something artists painted, or something photographers photographed. But it was so unbelievably Peridot. Peridot, Peridot, Peridot, her little gay mind sung.

“Well. For a complete nerd, you’re such a huge cutie.” Lapis said, and she couldn't help it. Oh no. Word vom.

“Oh my, the emo has feelings.” Peridot said coolly and laughed, despite her face looking like the colour of Lapis’ grandmother’s walls (the one she pushed down the stairs!), a bright pink.

“She does indeed. Lots of them, in fact.” Lapis smiled.

“Tell me more, tell me more!” Peridot squealed, singing very much out of key, and despite this, Lapis thought it was one of the most adorable things in the entire world. It was definitely up there with those tumblr kittens and puppies and those tiny little pigs. Yeah, definitely. Maybe even cuter.

“Did you get very far?” Lapis sung back, better this time, to which Peridot called her a show-off and they had a singing battle of Grease songs, which both girls shamefully knew many more lyrics to then the average human probably should ever. Later, when things had settled down, and somehow Peridot’s head was now next to Lapis’ as they stared at the ceiling in comfortable silence, before Lapis spoke again.

“Hey wait, you totally distracted me!” she shouted, almost making Peridot fall off of the bed into the dark, cold abyss also known as the wooden flooring in her bedroom.

“What, with my cuteness?” Peridot laughed, teasing her. And Lapis wanted to know how she’d somehow gotten so good at flirting. She doesn’t think she’d ever heard Peridot be so witty and romantic at the same time. She’d be a liar if she said she hated it.

”Nooo! I regret everything. You never told me what I did to Pearl, by the way!”

“Oh yeah. You just barfed on her.” Peridot chuckled.

“Ew and ew. She totally deserved it, though. ‘Barfed’ is one of the worst words, like, ever. You sound like Amethyst!” Lapis winced. She did love Amethyst (most of the time), but she used slang words excessively, to the point where it made Lapis want to be ‘lit’ on fire. And not in a cool way. Not at all.

“Pfft, is that a bad thing? I think it’s pretty awesomesauce.” Peridot said, as if it was cool to use that word in 2018.

“I think that word was last used, in like, the prehistoric ages.” Lapis then pretended to ‘barf.’

“Awww, well don’t worry. There’s plenty of my cuteness to go around you and Amethyst. And all my other love interests.” Peridot said, pretending to smoulder and instead just looking incredibly constipated.

“Oh yes, I’m very worried about that. And I totally regret calling you cute. You’re actually… a gremlin. Or a little elf, or something.” Lapis laughed, covering her face with her hands.

“Were you lying?” Peridot asked, her tone suddenly more serious.

“Uh, what?” “Were you lying when you called me cute?” Peridot said, propping herself up with her elbow and facing Lapis.

“Pffft. Of course not! Me, Lapis Lazuli! I’m not a liar.” Lapis spoke, embarrassed, hiding her feelings with humour as usual.

“What! You lie all the time! When we were 9, you drew all over your walls and my walls and said it was me! I had to go without my toys for weeks!” Peridot said in disbelief, her gestures wild and unable to be described in a single sentence, much like Miss Lazuli herself.

“Okay, well. Maybe I lied when I was 9, but after that, I’m pretty much good!” Lapis bluffed entirely.

“That’s not even true! Just the other week, you told me a UFO had been seen at 4:30AM so I rushed all the way down, only to find some old guy peeing on a tree!” Peridot said, utterly exasperated.

“Okay, but that was pretty funny. I didn’t think you’d actually get out of bed. And hey, the elderly peeing is a wonderful sight too.” Lapis said in fake formality, and for some reason decided to place her hands together in a prayer.

“Fine. Ask me anything you want, and  be honest. 100%. No filter. At all. Juuuust Lapis, how ‘ya like it.” Lapis smiled softly, realising some bad things could happen, but thinking Peridot did deserve the truth - at least a little bit.

“Promise?” Peridot asked.

“Well, I can’t promise: but I’ll try my best.” Peridot realised this was probably her best shot at trying to figure out what exactly Lazuli’s feelings for her were. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like her in a much friendlier way: but in the same way, she didn’t like her as a friend. Somehow, that made sense to Peridot.

“Lapis, do you like me? As-as in more than a friend. Like more than gal pals. Like, um, getting a house together in the countryside and having kids and a dog named Pumpkin?” Peridot blurted, and there it was. Peridot’s facade of coolness was gone. And it was short-lived.

“Ah, well. Not exactly.” Lapis said, watching Peridot’s face fall entirely. She decided to explain herself before Peridot broke down, or something.

“Because I can’t fucking stand kids,” Lapis laughed, and Peridot immediately gasped and smacked her on the shoulder repeatedly, before carefully grabbing her face and pulling her into a long awaited kiss.

And, so they kissed. They kissed until the skies turned from yellow and orange to purple and blue. They kissed until the sun stopped shining and the rain started pouring. They kissed until the gardeners stopped growing, the painters stopped painting and the birds stopped chirping. Even though Peridot’s laugh didn’t tinkle like bells, and Lapis’ personality wasn’t sugary sweet and intoxicatingly overbearing, Lapis was Lapis, and Peridot was Peridot, and that was more than enough for the both of them.


End file.
